Oxford Real Farming Conference: seeking common ground
Phil Sumption picks out some of the ORFC 2024 highlights that shine a light on farmers and growers transitioning to more sustainable and resilient farming systems.
LEARN MORESeptember 24, 2020
Can you make land both a productive farm and also good for bumblebees? This is a question that has been occupying the minds of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the University of Exeter and landowners and managers round the Fowey Valley in Cornwall. Bumblebees are excellent pollinators, particularly of horticultural crops such as soft fruits, courgettes […]
September 15, 2020
Ploughing has received bad press in some organic farming circles due to the higher fuel requirements and the fact that it buries soil organisms and green material at too great a depth. The perennial questions are: should we plough and if so how deep? Over many years I have remained a supporter of the plough […]
August 26, 2020
There is huge potential for farmers to be incentivised and rewarded for protecting and sequestering carbon in their soils. Government initiatives and carbon offsetting schemes in the private sector provide promising funding avenues for farmers who adopt agroecological practices that promote soil health and increase soil carbon. Yet there is a significant data gap as […]
August 17, 2020
Planting trees is great isn’t it? Good for the farm, good for the planet, good for our livestock for our crops for our soil. It’s very satisfying putting a tree in the ground and imagining what it will look like in a hundred years’ time. But how do we ensure that it actually survives not […]
August 10, 2020
Agricology has been awarded a DEFRA ELM Test in partnership with the University of Reading to research how effective videos and podcasts are as tools to learn about farming practices. As part of this study we are conducting a survey for farmers to understand their preferences and experiences of using these tools. We are looking […]
July 15, 2020
Why do we eat lamb, throw away wool and wear plastic? Why are food and fibre systems not generally considered within the same systems and conversations? When they are, why are fibres generally only considered by-products of food production? One answer is historical. After the last World War agricultural policy prioritised food production, leading to […]
June 17, 2020
Jez Taylor, head of the diverse market garden at Daylesford Organics talks to us about managing the greenfly on the roses they supply to the florists. Ready to apply soapy water, he notices signs of natural predation taking place, showing us some ladbybird larvae. He has some interesting observations in relation to water stress…
June 11, 2020
Wildflower meadows are an intrinsic part of our natural heritage and have been in decline over the last century. The rich flora and fauna provide an abundance of colour, a buzz of insects, and support a multitude of native species from butterflies to migrating birds and other wildlife. Daylesford’s Tim Field talks us through the […]
June 10, 2020
‘Our solutions are in nature’ – a concept at the core of sustainable farming practices and the theme of 2020’s UN International Day for Biodiversity. We are all dependent on healthy, vibrant ecosystems, and farming with nature that uses practices to give back to the land for future generations is part of this solution. The […]
June 8, 2020
Do you use ‘alternatives’ to conventional drugs and other interventions to keep your livestock healthy? There are many farmers – conventional, organic and those in-between – successfully reducing or using low levels of antibiotics and they are using many different methods. But some of these are not getting the recognition they deserve. There are conventional […]
May 19, 2020
This is one of a series of interviews Daylesford’s Tim Field has been conducting on the topic of sustainable food and farming. Tim speaks to Colin Tudge and Ruth West, co-founders of The Campaign for Real Farming and organisers of the annual Oxford Real Farming Conference. They talk about their motivations for […]
May 14, 2020
We want to pause to celebrate all those who tend our land and give so much to feed the nation. We are all indebted to the vital work of our farming community – who work tirelessly through the good times and the challenging times to keep food on our plates. At a time when […]